running out of ways to...

Donielle - posted on 01/21/2009
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keep my 19 mth old sleeping through the night. He has been getting up from around 4-5 a.m. since Dec. and it has just been increasing. He has a great night time routine, but he wakes up screaming around that time in the morning and he complains that he is hungry. She I give him a bottle or will he always want one if I do. I don't know what to do. I have been doing the cry out method, but this morning it really didn't work. I'm running out of ways. Please help!

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Doireann - posted on 03/03/2009

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I give my son dinner and if he doesnt push his plate away or if he hardly eats anything, I will give him a snack that will stick while he sleeps. Usually I give him toast or cheerios/kix.My son is 19 months and has been waking up once a night forever! I figure hes thirsty, I take him a cup, and he goes back to bed. I hate taking him a cup sometimes, but usually, thats what it is and he goes back to sleep. I only take the cup if hes screaming bloody murder. Sometimes I hear him talking and will wait to see if he can soothe himself and fall back to sleep. Im sure its just a growth spurt though. My proof is all the new jeans I have to buy..*sigh* They grow soo fast! I agree about the routine though! Those make a world of a difference. I had to cut my sons nap by an hour just so he would sleep in until 10 am. I put him to bed at 8:30 pm. You might try letting him tire himself out playing games before bed too. That helps sometimes and then hes actually tired. Good Luck!

About once a week my son has been waking up at 4:00 am as well. First of all, I suggest getting your child off of the bottle ASAP. Secondly, what seems to work for me is going in to make sure everything is okay. (No dirty diaper, no feet stuck in the crib...etc) I pick him up and rock with him for about 5 mintues until he is settled and sleepy again. Don't get me wrong...he still wants to get down and play. I just keep telling him it is nighttime and we sleep at night, we do not play at night. I put him back in his crib (yes, he is crying at this point) and tell him I am going back to bed. Each time he continued to cry for about 5-10 minutes, but then went back to sleep on his own. Good Luck!

We actually met with a sleep specialist when my little boy was 9 months old because he wouldn't sleep longer than 20 minutes at a time...all through the night! I had to walk him to sleep for an hour then it would start all over again. Here's one of the things she taught us. Never ever try the cry it out method at night. By that time, he's already overtired and will fight sleep even more. You want to start "training" him first thing in the morning, when they're the most rested. She told us not to get him out of bed before 6 am. When you get him out of bed, wait exactly 2 hours for his morning nap (obviously, he's older than mine was at the time, but it sounds like he's sleep deprived and doesn't know how to soothe himself back to sleep without you, so try this for about 2 weeks and then go back to either one or two naps a day). At the 2 hr mark, he should be in his crib and you should be walking out of his room. Have him stay in there for at least 1 hour, no matter how hard he cries. The first time I did this, I sat outside of his room and cried. After he's been in there for an hour, if he's asleep, let him sleep, if he's not, then get him out of bed, have the room bright, you praise him for doing soo well, then play with him or whatever for another 2 hours, then put him back to bed for another nap. Do the same as the first. Our little boy gets up at 7 am, naps at 11:30 until 2, then he goes to bed at 5:30 or 6 and sleeps all through the night. It sounds early, but ever since she taught us this sleep training, he has been soo happy and doesn't even cry when he wakes up. He loves going to bed! If he's tired, he points to his bedroom. It's wonderful!

Our daughter was doing this, it turned out she was getting more molars. We put a night light in her room & now she'll usually just talk to herself and/or the Elmo she sleeps with until she falls back to sleep. The only time she seems to cry is if she can't find her pacifier. She sleeps much better on a full belly, so we feed her at about 6:15 & her bed time is 7 PM. By the time she's finished eating it's usually around 6:45, so she's good & full before bed. She hasn't had a bottle since she was 11 or 12 months, but we don't give her a sippy when she wakes up. We did a few times when she was teething badly, just to soothe her (she was cutting 4 or 5 teeth at the same time) & she started crying more when she woke & would ask for her "cuppy". ...So we stopped giving it.

I stopped giving my son a through the night bottle before he was 1. I realised he didn't really need it so when he would wake up about 3ish every morning I just covered him back up and patted his back till he was settled. After 3 nights he stopped waking up. My point is, maybe try going in and rather than giving him what he wants, try explaining it's too early to get up and he can have a big breakfast when the sun comes up. Hope that can help?!

while the water in a sippy cup may be helpful i can not agree to place food next to a small child who sleeps in a diffrent room even if he has had crackers for almost a year now that one things could go wrong and they don't make screaming sounds when they have stopped breathing becouse they got that cracker of fruit lodged in there little throat.

it sounds like a hungry baby to me...maybe he is going through a growth spurt or something? would it work for you to put some crackers or fruit, & water (sippy cup?) near his bed where he can get to them, so if he needs to he could have a snack? that way its not a bottle so it shouldn't get to where it is a crutch, yet he could get some nurishment. Their tummies are pretty tiny, and sometimes during a big growth spurt they may need a little snack part wayt through the night. Good luck!!

I totally understand Letitia. It just has been a little hard at first because we thought something was wrong-gas, fever, stomach ache. We just couldn't figure it out. And the screaming just made me feel so bad for him, but even at the time when I picked him up it sometimes didn't seem to work. But, he has got a little better sleeping until 530 am and we let him cry until 6am. I think it is helping and he only has been doing this for a few days now, so I'll have to let you know in a week how he is doing. Thanks for all the advice. I really need it.

Thanks Melissa, we have been doing that for about a couple of weeks now. He is a very picky eater, so sometimes he will eat something I give him and then other times I give him the same thing and he won't eat it. He goes to bed about 8pm. He has been doing pretty good lately. The past couple of nights he woke up at 530am and we just let him cry it out it until 6am, so it has improved. I have also noticed that he now is starting to let me put him in his crib before he falls asleep during nap and bedtime. He was doing that before this whole thing started. I have also been letting him get at least 3 hours of nap time too. So, I think I'm in the right direction finally. Thanks for the advice.

how bizzar, my little man has just started doing this in the last week. He has slept through the night since he was about 3 months & usually would get up at about 7.30am now his almost 18 months & in the last week he has woken up between 4.30 - 5am screeming. He wakes up so fast that by the time i get from my bed to his he is already standing. twice my partner has gone in there & just layed him down & stroked his back & even if it apears he has gone back to sleep even half hour later soon as you stop he immediatley wakes stands up & screems. so the rest of the time we have just let him scream it out other wise he wont go back to sleep at all

I wouldn't give him a bottle because then he will know if he wakes up crying he's going to get a bottle. Is he eating a lot at night?? Maybe he needs to eat more in the evening.... maybe after dinner you can give him a small snack or something. I read online at webmd.com that children this age should eat every 3 hours.... i don't think they mean a huge meal just a snack every 3 hours.... my twins eat a few snacks throughout the day but not a bunch of junk food.... just enough to keep them happy. My son wakes up too in the middle of the night but most of the time he just wants his paci or wants to crawl in bed with us for a couple of hours.... my daughter Emily never has any problems at night... thank goodness, lol, ones enough. Anyway so i would suggest giving him a snack before bedtime. What time does he go to bed?

If you give him a bottle, he will get used to it. But if it makes him go back to sleep maybe it is worth it for you?

Otherwise try feeding him up more at night-time, i found that worked with my little boy. We have dinner at 6:30, bottle at 7:15 and bed at 8. If he doesn't eat much dinner i give him some plain crackers or something before bed. He is sleeping through (fingers crossed) to about 7-7:30.